A Piece Of His Heart
by KiRaKill
Summary: "You have the intelligence, so I will be your strength! I'll be your knight no matter when, I will never leave you in battle! We will surpass L, the three of us!" In the end, Mello kept his pledge. And now, it's a piece of his heart that completed his childhood memoir, and last words that will be theirs no more: 'Nothing Starts With hate' : MelloxNear


_Eight minutes past twelve, and there was an afternoon ruckus. Incomprehensible daily routine, for which Mello is very devoted to, and Near - in the sidelines but seem to receive all his shortcomings in the aftermath. _

_"Near!"_

_"Mello." _

_It would take a second-ranking genius to read the silent expectation in his tone, and there was just a number of puzzles Near had recently laid for his rival to decipher. And like a rocketeer of emotions, Mello flew and exploded with answers much to the younger's amusement. "The results are out!" A childish voice echoed as the door slammed shut. Near shifted his weight, continued to complete his Lego tower with a sudden smile on his face._

_"I figured."_

_The blonde male wore a wide grin plastered with innocence, happiness and good news- even Roger couldn't help but absorb his sunlight radiance. "Guess who's on top?" Cerulean orbs sparkled with delight, the whole common room was affected with a pleasant, warm atmosphere. Rarity of the rarest occasions, a robotic, intelligence-programmed child also melted a frozen wall._

_"Who?" Matt, who loved to play games all day, also thought that no height of level can be taller than such bright noon._

_If only change can never come._

_"Both of us! Our results tied! No one can beat us together, Nate, you know that." So many years have passed since he last heard the name he vowed to forget. Though, when said with overwhelming purity - Near couldn't explain the heat he can emit from one cursed name._

_"That's great news."_

_"Isn't it?!" Without any further warning, the young chocolate-lover sat beside Near, pulled him close into a hug. His eyes widened, and his productive hands froze. A redhead saw the incident, who just laughed it off._

_"I-I can't breathe..."_

_Mello snorted "Eh,you're too fragile. Are you really a boy?" Since he was older and more dominant, he decided to understand. Near has been always weak in stature, and he always thought that all the profound vocabularies actually came from Near's stomach. _

_"A hundred percent male." _

_"Oh well, it can't be helped. Since you're so frail, you're bound to be protected by someone strong." Mello grabbed one of Near's action figurines, waved it around to prove his point and grasp attention._

_An idea suddenly touched his imagination "You have the brain, Near. It's the most ideal factor to be a great_ _detective. But you don't know how to protect yourself." Upon hearing the truth, Near searched his partner's eyes._

_"I g-guess it's my responsibility now... Since you're so weak and easily broken, I'll be your shield." Hesitant, unsure but confident. Mello stood, placed his right hand on his left chest and pledged. It was so earnest Near felt uncomfortable - but still, those were the days when he used to genuinely smile._

_"Do you promise to be my knight?" Near held a smaller doll that represented him and motioned it closer to the soldier figurine. Unnoticed by most of the pupils, Mello gleamed with joy._

_"I do! We will surpass L together in the future, that's a promise!"_

_"Good luck." It was a familiar mischievous voice that came from a brunette, a dishonest boy that everyone had a hard time to get along with. He wore goggles, mismatched with a striped shirt and winter get up everyone thought of him to be mysteriously introverted. However, 'When you can make people believe who you're not, you'll survive a world full of lies' is what he always justified, and the two geniuses agreed inside. _

_"Hey you too! Matt the third, you will be the foundation of the castle. You know, you're our security since you're a hacker, and give us all the information we can use!"_

_"How am I included in this?" Mello frowned, snapped Matt out of his world filled with just rules and strategies and appointed him a place - a role someone as special as him could only do._

_"You're part of the group now! We will surpass L! The three of us, okay? No backing out! We're the best of friends now!" _

_"Ugh.."_

_"If Mello says so."_

_Until then, hours passed, they talked about random topics and personal issues. It appears that Matt is a joker - he never ran out of puns and retorts, and Matt always laughed with his left hand rubbing his head. Mello talked about a bake shop, where they sold most of their pastries based with chocolate, and Matt called him an 'Unexpected Reincarnation of L's Stomach' and along those lines. Near was the most quiet, and if he ever did talk he only shared about his record-breaking dice and match towers, and that he even used match heads to build a 1:12th scale Eiffel Tower replica in detail._

_They were an odd pair, but they built a bond they never imagined._

_"I can't wait for the day to come when L sees us as someone better than him,"_

_"We're a package, Mel." Matt also started calling Mello in first syllable._

_"Yes, one day indeed. One day..."_

Sixty years elapsed, Renaissance occurred in a world in which history had lost its track on its most grave memory. There were only old rumors wherein Near's greatest role in his lifetime happened. As if there's freedom, his wise eyes see greed. It never changed, never died along the ashes of the past.

He heard the lullaby made by the bells.

They ringed in his ears like alarms - reminding him again that it's getting louder each day.

There aren't much a bedridden, detached leukemia old man could be of help in any wisdom giving. Though, there's one.

Neither of them can prove they're better of alone.

If only he had not provoked Mello to think that he could be a raging number of ninety-nine percent better without them. Whatever made up the saying a hundred and one percent effort, for him, it's called Mello and Matt.

In the end, Mello kept his vow.

"Mello..." He hoped that Mello said the last words of his death,

And now will be Near's, as their last no more.

'_Nothing starts with hate.'_

**A/n I feel like crying :') Song: Terrified. **

** 'In a world full of wrong, you're the thing that's right...'**

**Damn feels.**


End file.
